Since its inception in 2005, the Scotiabank Baycrest Pro-Am has raised over $27 million to support Baycrest, a global leader in brain health and aging. The Pro-Am is North America’s premier on ice hockey tournament, the largest of its kind, with over 500 players who take to the ice each year to help support research, education, care and innovation in the fields of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
We are changing the future of brain health
As the population ages, the number of people with dementia or cognitive impairment in Canada is expected to almost double to about 1.4 million by 2031.
At Baycrest, our work helps to preserve and extend the cognitive and emotional well-being of older adults.
Donors to the Baycrest Foundation play a critical role in keeping Baycrest running because government funding only makes up about 64% of revenues.
Contributions to the Foundation help support research on brain health and aging, education and stimulating programs that make life more meaningful for seniors at Baycrest and in the community.
Where do the funds go?
Scotiabank Pro-Am supports critical Alzheimer’s research
Research plays a vital role in the battle against Alzheimer’s, a devastating disease. For 15 years, sponsors, participants and donors of the Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s have actively invested in world-class Alzheimer’s disease research at Baycrest. Funds continue to be needed to support research and innovation that will have a meaningful impact on the lives of those with Alzheimer’s and their loved ones. Currently, funds raised through the Pro-Am support five leading researchers and their critical work.
- Dr. Nicole Anderson is the Associate Scientific Director of Baycrest’s Kimel Family Centre for Brain Health and Wellness. She is looking at various personalized prescriptions for brain health such as exercise, nutrition and social engagement interventions, that can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
- Dr. Jean Chen is an expert in the field of the heart-brain connection and the use of MRI to assess brain health. She aims to develop non-invasive therapeutic tools that can be used in clinic and at the patient’s home to maintain and improve brain health.
- Dr. Howard Chertkow leads Baycrest’s Anne & Allan Bank Centre for Clinical Research Trials (CCRT) and holds leadership roles at the Kimel Family Centre and the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA). His work with the CCRT attracts students working on new treatment elements, and supports researchers carrying out therapy studies, which means that Baycrest’s patients can gain access to promising medications years before they arrive at the pharmacy.
- Dr. Björn Herrmann focuses on the brain mechanisms that signal hearing difficulties within noisy environments and how these are linked to cognitive decline. His work will advance our understanding of ways to support older adults with hearing loss, helping them to stay socially engaged and protect their brain health as they age.
- Dr. Jennifer Ryan’s research uses eye tracking as a tool to investigate memory and how it changes as we age. She has developed tests that may be used to assess brain health, and to detect Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms emerge.
About Baycrest
Headquartered on a 22-acre campus and fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest is unique in the world, combining a comprehensive system of care for aging adults and one of the world’s top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience (the Rotman Research Institute). Baycrest’s dedicated centres focus on mitigating the impact of age-related illness and impairment, and offer unmatched global knowledge exchange and commercialization capacity.
- Baycrest incorporates a history and tradition of elder care that dates back almost a century. Baycrest is home to the Rotman Research Institute (RRI), one of the world’s top cognitive brain health research institutes.
- Baycrest is rethinking brain health and aging – and working to realize a vision of a world in which people can age in the setting of their choice while maintaining their cognitive, emotional and physical well-being.
- Baycrest is home to the new Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, a truly transformative made- in-Canada venture aimed at tackling the challenges facing older adults and turning frontline ideas for senior’s care into reality.
The Baycrest Foundation supports programs and services that promote excellence in care, research, innovation and education in aging and brain health. For more information, visit baycrestfoundation.org
Our reach into our community and beyond
- 1,800+ staff members
- 2,000 volunteers
- 1,200 older adults served each day
- 1,500+ students trained every year
- 550+ nurses trained each year
- 472 bed nursing home
- 262 bed hospital-complex continuing care and rehabilitation
- 120 suites (independent living facility)
- 190 suites (our assisted living facility)